John Trudeau is a veteran pinball engineer, artist, and designer who has been in the field for over thirty years. He is affectionately known by fans as "Dr. Flash", a nickname first given to him by fellow pinball designer Python Anghelo.

Trudeau started in the industry in 1979, working as a game tester for a pinball company called Game Plan. He was soon promoted to foreman of the testing line, then became recruited to the engineering department after his artwork was noticed. Unfortunately, Game Plan quit the pinball industry before any of his games were released.

Wishing to continue designing pinballs, Trudeau joined Gottlieb in 1981. There he rapidly developed many designs, whereupon Gottlieb management would pick and choose which ones would go into production. After the video-game shakedown of The '80s, the pinball division was reformed as Premier Technology, and John Trudeau ended up as the only remaining designer. He eventually rebuilt Premier's design division, but left the company in 1990 for Williams Electronics. The slower pace and creator-oriented atmosphere at Williams allowed Trudeau's work to flourish even further, attracting more fans with a variety of layout designs.

In 2008, John Trudeau became the inaugural inductee into the UK Pinball Hall of Fame. He worked with UK pinball manufacturer Heighway Pinball on a new game design, and was hired by Stern Pinball in 2013.

Trudeau: "If the budget allowed it, and the playfield had the room, and the flow of the layout allowed it, there were no real item specifications for a game."

Themes Always Lie: John Trudeau's tables from Premier are often overlooked by many players, due to their generic themes or Mockbuster designs. Those who actually play the games are often surprised to discover a great table underneath the surface.

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